break of dawn
by chinarai
Summary: All he ever wanted was to see her one last time.


This little work is from last year, from before the Champions' Ballad DLC was released. I posted it to heroesofhyrule, and remembered it yesterday, so I decided to tweak it a bit and update a few things now that we know a little more about the Champions.

I'm not fully content with it and maybe someday I'l come back to rewrite it fully. Until then, I hope you enjoy this!

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 **break of dawn**

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"Son?" Sidon lifted his bleary eyes look to the towering figure of his father. "Why are you awake so late?"

The prince lowered his hands from his face and averted his gaze. "I have been thinking of something Link told me."

King Dorephan took a step into the room, loud in its quietness. "What was it?"

Sidon frowned his brows and did not respond. He spent most of his day in his study room ever since Link left, staring at nothing in particular and mulling over his words. They trusted the Hylian Champion enough to board and appease Vah Ruta – and he delivered, ceasing for once and for all the rainfall caused by the corrupted Divine Beast, and thus saving Zora's Domain and its people. Therefore, Sidon trusted him enough to know that he would not joke about such serious topic.

He had seen Mipha – or rather, what was left of her. Her spirit presented herself to him after his battle against the very same being that took her life one hundred years ago and then seized control of Vah Ruta.

The news were delivered to him after Sidon accompanied the hero back to the bridge where they first met, and with some parting words and a comforting, albeit a little awkward, pat on the Prince's arm, the Hylian was off to face another Divine Beast and fulfill his role as Hylian Champion and Princess Zelda's appointed knight. Sidon had stared at his blue-clad, retreating back until it disappeared in the distance, and ignored the other Zoras that celebrated as he went into his study room to think and try to come to terms with it. Try as he might, he just could not wrap his mind around it without thinking that Link must have simply remembered a distant memory from way back then.

Still, he wanted to believe it was true. Sidon had been so young when she died, so little his tail dragged on the ground with every step, head too big for his small shoulders. The most concrete memory he had of her was clinging to her trident as she took them both up a waterfall on a sunny day. Granted, it happened too many times to be linked back to one specific day, but he always recalled it so fondly. Everything else was a blur, and he could hardly remember her smile or her voice.

To see her again would be a wish come true.

King Dorephan shifted his weight from one short leg to the other and cleared his throat. "If it is bothering you so much, son, then perhaps you should check it for yourself."

Sidon snapped his head up to meet his gaze, having momentar2ily forgotten his father was in the room. "What?"

"I have no idea what he told you, but I would advise that you look into it, if only to ease your mind."

The prince seemed uncertain for a moment. "Now?"

His father let out a soft chuckle and placed his hand back on the doorknob. "I do not see why not. It is not likely that you will fall asleep so soon. Me, on the other hand..." He trailed off to stifle a yawn and bid his son goodnight a second time before turning to the hallway and closing the door of the study room.

Sidon placed his elbows on his knees, head in his hands, and narrowed his eyes at the floor. A brief second of debating later and he jumped to his feet quickly, making haste to move up the stairs of the underground palace until he emerged in the central plaza and the cold air of the night greeted him. Guards acknowledged him with polite bows and nods of their heads, but refrained from asking if he was fine or requested help due to the determined look on his face.

Diving into the water, the prince traveled along the river until he was close enough to the Divine Beast, its form clear to see even in the darkness of the night. Climbing the rocks would not be easy. His arms were long, but his legs were short, and he had trouble to find the correct grip before he could move further up. He saw Link doing it only once, and the young man made it seem so easy. It felt like an eternity had passed until he was on top of the rock mountain looking at Vah Ruta, for the first time standing near it while it was at full height and not submerged in water, trying to kill whoever approached.

The prince dared not venture much closer, afraid that something could happen. His fingers curled inwards into his palm, nails digging into the skin. He set his jaw and searched the imposing machine for any signs of his sister. There was nothing.

Sidon took in a shuddering breath, fists shaking. "Mipha?" His voice cracked, only half of her name sounding comprehensible as the breeze carried it away. He cleared his throat to try once again, now screaming it as loud as he could. "Mipha!" If anyone saw him right now, they would think he was crazy, but Sidon had come so far, moved only by his hope and need to reunite with his sister if only for one last time. "Mipha! Are you in there?"

On the verge of crying, Sidon allowed his eyes to water in frustration, let the tears blur his vision until Vah Ruta was just an indistinguishable smudge several steps ahead of him. He pressed the heel of his hands to his eyes, teeth gritted to fight the urge to scream her name once more. If Link saw her... If Mipha showed herself to him, then she would come see him. She would. She loved her family too much, that he remembered well. His sister would hold onto the first opportunity to see them again as long as it was viable.

"Sidon?"

He lowered his hands and let them fall to hang limply by his sides. Through the haze that was his vision, he could see a light blue glow coming from atop the giant Divine Beast. It took some blinking to get rid of tears and a few seconds for his eyes to focus, but once he could see clearly, there was no mistaking that shape. Mipha's spirit retained the same appearance she had a century ago, still donning the proud blue of the chosen Champions. He could not see her in great detail, he could not see the golden of her eyes or her lips as they curved into a smile, or the tears that travelled down her cheeks just like his own, but seeing her, even if from a distance, and hearing her voice made his heart clench painfully.

"Mipha." Sidon breathed out, head tilted up so much it hurt his neck, but he did not care. It was as if he had met a sacred deity, only much better. It was his sister.

She briefly glanced at Vah Ruta's trunk and covered her mouth with a hand. Confined to the Divine Beast as she was, Mipha could not simply jump down to get closer to him, and with the red beam already pointed at Hyrule Castle, it could not be turned off to move the machine down.

It was break of dawn and the sky was brightening up with orange, yellow and pink hues, slowly washing away the black and blue. Mipha looked so ethereal and out of reach more than ever now. Sidon wished he could hug her, cling to her like a lifeline and spend hours upon hours talking to catch up on all that they missed, but she was a spirit, immaterial and trapped in a machine that could not be boarded any longer. Her shape began to fade as the sun inched up and he heard a distant cry of anguish as she disappeared completely.

Sidon got to see her and hear her voice. It was more than he ever wished for and all that he ever wanted, yet it hurt, unbearably so. His heart clenched in his chest and he made a mental note to thank Link.

Later, though. Now, he was crying so hard he could barely move.


End file.
